Unbeaten Essex Eagles have retained the same 14-man squad that was on duty for the first two matches in the competition that saw victories carry the team into second place in the South Group.
Meanwhile, Gloucestershire lost to Glamorgan before overcoming Middlesex. Essex Eagles go in search of the third successive victory in the Royal London One-Day Cup when entertaining Gloucestershire at The Cloudfm County Ground on Thursday where play is scheduled to start at 11am.
Eagles Head Coach Chris Silverwood admitted that his side’s latest success, a one-wicket win over Surrey on Tuesday, was a little too close for comfort.
“It gave me a few more grey hairs but it was worth it,” he said. “From a spectator point of view, it must have been fantastic to watch and the closer we got, the more exciting it became. We kept scrapping away against Surrey and got the points in the end. It was a good game of cricket.
“We did make it hard work for ourselves at times and I told the boys afterwards that I don’t think we’ve really fired properly yet. But we are still grinding out the results and that’s the thing I am genuinely enjoying at the moment. It’s been the same in the Championship, regardless of the situation we’ve found ourselves in, we are finding ways of getting over the line, which is great and that shows the character in the group.
“There is no divine right to win any game of cricket, you have to go out and fight for every inch and that’s what we’ve been doing.
“Also, it is different people who are sticking their hands up and that’s a very positive sign. We saw that against Surrey where Simon Harmer played a great knock, Ryan ten Doeschate batted well along with Tom Westley and Ravi Bopara and not forgetting Matt Quinn right at the end. He had a very important role to play and he did it. People were out there all scrapping for Essex.
“Simon played a great knock against Surrey and since he’s been with us, he’s worked tremendously hard and shown what a good cricketer he is. But there is more to it than that with him, it’s the character he brings to the dressing room and the way he’s fitted in so well with the lads.
“He’s really bought into everything we are trying to do at Essex and that’s why he was rewarded the other day with a two-year contract extension.
“Now we start all over again against Gloucestershire, it’s another tough fixture but hopefully we can keep our unbeaten run going.”
Essex Eagles squad:
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) (Harwich) Captain
Adam Wheater (31) (Woodford Wells) Wicket-Keeper
Varun Chopra (6) (Ilford)
Nick Browne (10) (South Woodford)
Simon Harmer (11)
Neil Wagner (13)
Tom Westley (21) (Mildenhall)
Ravi Bopara (25) (Hainault & Clayhall)
Alastair Cook (26) (Maldon)
Dan Lawrence (28) (Chingford)
Jamie Porter (44) (Chingford)
Callum Taylor (67) (Swardeston)
Matt Quinn (94) (Harlow)
Ashar Zaidi (99) (Ilford)
Gloucestershire squad | Michael Klinger (Captain), Phil Mustard (WK), Chris Dent, Ian Cockbain, Graham van Buuren, Jack Taylor, Benny Howell, Kieran Noema-Barnett, Tom Smith, Craig Miles, Liam Norwell, Matt Taylor, Chris Liddle.
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